Water Conservationin Afghanistan
Abdullah Aini,
Rural Engineering Co ordinator
Swedish Committee for Afghanistan(SCA)

Executive Summary: Afghanistan is landlocked country in central Asia having arid and semiarid climate with precipitation from 75 mm per year in the plain to 1,170 mm in the highlandarea. Forests cover only 2 % of the country and de-forestations is going rapidly and if
precautionary measure will not be taken, after 15 years the country will have a little forest. To
measure natural resources of the country, the government established 31 stations formeteorological information and 140 stations for water stage recording on different location of thecountry. Out of 140 water stage stations, 40 were selected for sediment transport measurement.
Water is a precious material for human being in different uses as domestic, industries andincreasing of agriculture products. Water utilization in Afghanistan is mostly for agriculture andabout 85 % of the country crops produced under irrigation systems. Irrigation system in
Afghanistan is mostly in traditional method and distributes water on traditional ways as common
in the country. 84.6 % of irrigation water is tapped from rivers. 7.9 % and 7 % of irrigation watertapes water from springs and Karezes respectively. A small amount (0.5 %) of water is tappedfrom Arhat (dug wells).
Due to 25 years conflict in Afghanistan all infrastructures including irrigation related structures
are damaged or completely destroyed. After 1980 there is no any information about water
resources in the country. From other side the country is suffered from continuous drought during
the last six years. Ground water dropped down considerably and affected Karezes to be dry or
their water is reduced. All related reports to water resources are lost during 25 years of conflict.
After the new elected government in 2001, the government gave first priorities to security andcommunication system of the country and rebuilt 2,500 Km of pre-war paved highways. Less
work on rehabilitation of natural resources has been done so far. As per reports prepared by FAO
and the ministry of water and power under Afghan government, the total precipitation in the
country is 180,000 million M3 (150,000 million M3 from snow and 30,000 million M3 from rain).
Meanwhile the total discharge of all rivers is 84,000 million M3 (47 %) of the total precipitationin the country.
A total of 12 % of the country land is arable, where only 50 % of this area is irrigated per year
due to shortage of water for irrigation and other 50 % will be irrigated next year. Out of total
discharge produced in the country, only 55,000 million M3 (65 %) is used within the country. The
remaining is going out of the country. According to the ministry of water and power report, a
total of 2,000 million M3 is used for domestic water supply.
There are a limited number of reservoirs to store water for irrigation and power generation. The
government has to develop a long-term strategy to manage water resources and reduce dro ught
effect on agriculture. The strategy should focus on increasing water capital and making better use

of water. The strategy should include (i) water harvesting and watershed management, including
more water reservoirs (small and large), (ii) effective control on ground water utilization, (iii)
better information system on water availability, (iv) eliminating unsustainable land use practices,(v) improved intake structures and corresponding on- farm water management, (vi) Managementtransfer of state owned schemes, (vii) extending the irrigated command area. The geographicalsituation in the country is such, where water is available, there is no enough land for irrigation
and where land is available there is no water to fulfill irrigation requirement.
Key words: Afgha nistan, water resources management, water available and utilization, irrigation
system, water conservation and water law.
1. Introduction:
2
Afghanistan is a small mountainous, land - locked country with a surface area of 655,000 km ,situated in the central part of the Asian mainland. The climate over the most part of the country isarid and semi-arid with rainfall ranging from 75 mm per year in Nimroz and Farah to 1,170 mm
per year in South Salang (see Fig.-1). Approximately 85 % of the land is either mountainous ordesert and more than 25 % of land lies above 2,500 m. in elevation.

Fig. – 1: Mean Annual Precipitation in Afghanistan
Forest covers only 2 % of the land in the country. Unfortunately, forests that are most important
for water conservation in Afghanisatn are declining due to increasing demand for fuel wood andillegal logging to abroad. This decline results a loss of about 30,000 ha of forest per year. If no
precautionary measures will take place, Afghanistan will have a little natural forest after 15 years.
Local communities with the help of NGOs have attempted to protect forest, but local leaders havedisrupted these efforts leading to the destruction of physical barriers.
In the country, a total of 31 locations for metrological data collection (rainfall, temperature,
relative humidity, snow, wind and sunshine) were available at least one in each province centre.
For recording the water stage of each river to calculate its discharge , the construction of gauging
station started in Helmand river basin with limited number in 1940s. Installation of those waterstage recorders on Helmand river basin was done by USGS. In late 50s, the German water
economy department started installation of gauging stations on Kabul river basin and USSR
started few gauging stations on the North flowing rivers including Amu Darya. During 60s all
gauging stations came under water and soil survey department of the government. Totally 140

gauging stations to record water stage were established on river systems all over the country. Outof which 131 were equipped by automatic water stage recorders and remaining were equippedwith staff gauges to be read manually three times a day.
Out of 140 gauging stations, 40 key gauging stations were selected for collecting information
regarding sediment transport of the rivers systems either periodically or daily. Most of the daily
sediment transport gauging stations were at the inlet of existing dams or on key location where
the possibility of dam construction was there in future.
Water is essential for human being different uses as domestic, industries and agricultural products.
The world population is increasing rapidly and the demand for water is also going high to meettheir requirement for different uses. From other hand considering the importance of water needfor human life, UN announced 80s as water decade for the world. Water utilization andconservation is the most crucial issue to be taken into consideration dur ing different use of water.
Any further positive steps toward effective water utilization, conservation and management will
response the world next generation.
2. Irrigation Systems used in Afghanistan:
The agriculture sector in Afghanistan relies considerably on irrigation systems both traditionaland modern which tap water from rivers and streams. About 85 % of all crops are produced underirrigation systems . The irrigation systems in Afghanistan are traditional and in very poor
condition with efficiency about 25 %, where the norm for efficient irrigation systems is 40 %.
The following irrigation systems are commonly in used:
1. Modern and relatively large scale irrigation systems, mainly taps water from the rivers
either by direct diversion of water or by construction of dam to store water. These systems
are limited to a few governmental projects in Helmand, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Ghazni and
Parwan provinces. The construction of few more projects were under construction before
1978 in Baghlan, Kunduz, Nimroz and Heart provinces, but they are not completed yet.
For the details see Table – 1 bellow:
Table -1: Major Modern Irrigation Systems
Name
Province
CommandDonor
Area in Ha.
Helmandand Helmand
103,000
USA
Arghandab
KandaharParwanParwan24,800China
Nangarhar
Nangarhar
39,000 Former USSR
Kelagai
Baghlan
20,000
GoA
Gawargan
Baghlan
11,000 ADB & GoA
Kunduz-Khanabad Kunduz
30,000WB
SardehGhazni
15,000 Former USSR
Salma
Herat
115,000
WAPCOS
Total
357,800

Const. Year

Const. %19940 - 50

100

1960
1960
1970
1978
1980
1980
1976

100
100
100
70
80
90
20

2. Temporary or locally built diversion structures over perennial and semi-perennial rivers toconvey water through canals/streams (Jui) to land for irrigation.

3. Diversion structures over seasonal river and stream beds to convey flood waters to thefields whenever it rains. This system also is known as Sailabi or flooding.
4. Karezes (Qanat in old literature): Are the most widely used irrigation systems in Southpart of Hindu Kush ranges from Kabul to Herat.
6. Springs : Where is available, the water conveyed by gravity to land for irrigation.
7. Dug wells (Arhat). This type is very old method and animal (donkey, horse or camel) isused to draw water by a series of buckets going up and down from a big dug well about 5
meter in diameter and up to 5 m. deep.
The ministry of water and power under government of Afghanistan divided the sources ofirrigation water into four classes: rivers (84.6 %), springs (7.9 %), Karezes (7 %) and Arhat,(0.5 %), see (Fig-2).
84.6
84.6

It is worth mentioning that in a traditional method, the distributionof water is not uniform according to crop water require ment.
Upstream land is taking more water where downstream land does
not get enough water for their cultivation.
The reasons for not uniform distribution are improper design of
SpringArhat
outlets, lack of efficient water distribution system (water law) and
River
Karez
weak maintenance system. The government approved water law for
Fig. – 2: Irrigation water Sources
the country about 25 years back, but unfortunately it did not put inpractice due to its complicity and contradiction with common traditional distribution methods.
Owners of land put a huge amount of money to purchase or lease water for his use and they are
not agree to give those water to someone else without any payment.
Percentage

100
80
60

7.9

40
20

0

3. Present Status of Water Resources:
Before 1978, Afghanistan was self-sufficient in cereals production and a flourishing horticulture
market provided about 40 % of the country’s export earning in fresh and dried fruits and nuts.
During the last two and half decades of war, all infrastructures including irrigation systems in the
country have been severely damaged or completely destroyed.
Additionally these systems require excessive maintenance to provide a continuous supply ofwater. Canal intakes are washed away and excessive water entered the canals and washed its
embankment or canals filled with sediment. Such repeated failures were time-consuming andcostly to repair. As the result it caused interruption in the supply of water at critical times during
irrigation season. This interruption caused considerable losses in crop yields. The rehabilitationof these systems, in term of their ability to supply greater quantities of water, distributes it withminimum losses are crucial issue s to be taken into consideration immediately.
During 80s and 90s international communities rushed to the country to help Afghans torehabilitate their irrigation systems. These assistances were on emergency basis and their maintasks were to clean Karezes and canals. Rarely happened that water intakes were designed andconstructed by few NGOs, but soon due to lack of flood information for design, they washed out
within one flood season. The farmers were not satisfied with these types of jobs and they wanted
permanent structures to get full and continuous water for their irrigation.
The recording network of all river systems collapsed and all 140 hydrological gauging stations
were destroyed completely. Most of the hydrological year books pr inted by the hydrology

7

0.50

department were lost. Recording process in the country continued until 1980 and then due todistortion of gauging station on river basins it stopped. After 1980, there is no a single station torecord water stage of the river in the country. So far no action on re-installation of those gauging
stations has been taken by the concerned department.
During the last six years while drought hit Afghanistan the demand for water went high and richfarmers tried to find another source of water for their agriculture. As the result they drilled theground for deep wells and drew ground water for their irrigation. This resulted considerable drop
down (up to 10 m) in ground water table, especially in the south of the country. Dropping ofground water level result dryness/reducing of discharge of Karezes.
It is worth mentioning that all reports related to water resources development projects were lost
due to conflict between different Afghans factions. Now what most of the donor agencies areworking to redo those reports and started work from the bottom. After Bonn agreement, the new
government established in the country and started work to prepare constitution and get approval
from Afghan Loya Jirga (Supreme Council). Meanwhile the government gave the first priority tosecurity and communication system. The government rebuilt the pre-war paved highways about
2,500 Km. Regarding water resources development less work ha s been done so far.
4. Available Water Resources:
The rivers regime in Afghanistan depend on annual rain and snow melt in highland above 2000 m
in elevation and represented 80 % of Afghan water resources (excluding ground water) of thecountry. The annual water received from snowmelt in highland is estimated to be 150,000 million
M3 and the rest of the country received only 30,000 million M3 through rainfall results a total of
180,000 million M3 for the whole country. Out of total runoff in Afghanistan, only 15 %contributes to recharge ground water in the country.
According to the hydrology department under the ministry of water and power, all river systems
in Afghanistan are divided into following five basins :1. The Amu Darya basin in the north of the country flowing from east to west.
2. The north flowing rivers basin either disappear inside or outside of the country.
3. The Hari Rud river basin flowing toward west, then to north and enters Turkmanistan.
4. The Helmand river basin flowing toward south-west and ponds in Hamun-i-Sabiri.
5. The Kabul river basin flowing toward east and joins Indus river in Pakistan. (see Fig-3)

Fig.-3: River Basins in Afghanistan

The total annual discharge of above mentioned river basins is 84,000 million M3 (47 %) of thetotal precipitation in the country. For the detail see Table – 3 bellow:
Table – 3: Mean Annual discharge of each river basin in Afghanistan.
River BasinRiver NameRiver Regime
Amu Darya

Total Amu Darya
Kabul/Indus

Total Kabul/Indus
Northern Rivers

Total Northern
Helmand

Total Helmand
Har- i-Rod

Total Har-i-Rod
Grand Total

Ab-i-Panja
KokchaKunduzSnow/glacier- fed
Snow/glacier- fed
Rain/Snow- fed

Gomal
Margo, Shamal, Khuram.
Panjshir
Kunar
Kabul, itself

Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Snow/glacier- fed
Rain/snow- fed

Khulm
BalkhabAb-i-Safid
Shirin Tagab
Amu Darya desert

Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed

Farah Rod
Adraskan Rod
Khuspas Rod
Khash RodKaj RodGhazni Rod
Helmand at Kajaki dam
Musa Qala Rod
Arghandab
Lower Helmand
Southern river

Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed

MurghabKashan and Kus hk Rod
Har- i-Rod

Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed
Rain/snow- fed

Discharge
in million M 3
36,4205,700
6,000
48,120
350
400
3,130
15,2502,520
21,650
60
1,650
40
100
30
1,880
1,250
210
40
170
60
350
6,000
220
820
110
70
9,300
1,350
110
1,600
3,060
84,010Percentage
of Total
43
7
7
57
0
0
4
18
3
26
0
2
0
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
7
0
1
0
0
11
2
0
2
4
100

Ground water in Afghanistan has not been surveyed yet completely. What figures are reflected indifferent reports are base on assumption. The ministry or water and power did survey of groundwater in a limited area as Moqur area in Ghazni by the ministry of water and power, Herat centre
by Erkon company, from England, Har- i-Rud by Montreal company from Canada, Omakay inZabul, Jerai in Kandahar and Bakwa in Farah province by jointly WAPCOS India and WAPECA

(Water and Power Engineering Company of Afghanistan). The ministry of Mine and Industry
surveyed only Kabul area.
5. Water Resources Utilization:
As mentioned before, the country is mountainous and only 12 % of the country's land (7.86x106ha) is arable. In a normal year due to shortage of water only 50 % of arable land is cultivated. Outof the total discharge only 55,000 million M3 (65 %) is used within the country. The remaining
water without any use is going out of the country.
According to NGOs and UN agencies assessments the water resources utilization in Afghanistan
is in poor shape. Beside utilization of water resources for agriculture the government constructed
limited reservoirs on locations to store flood water to be used for both irrigation and power
generation. For detail of location of dams, see Table – 2, bellow:
Table – 2: Dams
Name
Province
Storage in 106 m3
Purpose or use
KajakiHelmand2,700 For irrigation & power, completed.
Arghandab Kandahar
479 For irrigation, completed.
Salma
Herat
900 Irrigation & power, but not completed
NaghlooKabul
450 Power, completed
SardehGhazni164 Irrigation, completed
Daroonta
Nangarhar
120 Irrigation and power, completed.
Total
4,813
It is worth mentioning that the live capacity of the above completed dams is reduced considerably
due to silts entered from water shed during flood season.
As per the government report, the total use of water for domestic is estimated to be 2,000 million
M3 . This figure is rough and there is no detail information on the matter. In Afghanistan,industries have not been developed too much yet and water use of industries has not been
estimated yet.
6. Water Conservation:
Although the construction of dams (both reservoirs and check dams), over perennial, semiperennial and seasonal rivers, and the ir use for irrigation and power generation, is probably thebest long term solution. From other side international experience has shown that the river basin is
not only the best unit for planning but also for management of both water supply and demand andconservation of natural resources. But the geographical situation in Afghanistan is such, wherewater is available there is no enough land to irrigate. i.e. Kabul and Kunar are major rivers
considering their annual discharge. Both are flowing in a long narrow valley and crossing
Afghanistan boarder near Torkham and joins Indus river in Pakistan. Where land is available
there is no enough water to fulfill the irrigation requirement. i.e. Helmand river with its
tributaries are flowing in a large plain areas and joins Hamon-i-Sabiri between Afghanistan and
Iran. This limitation results the available water resources can not be used efficiently. The
government has to develop a long-term strategy to manage water resources and reduce drought
effect on agriculture. The strategy should focus on increasing water capital and making better use
of water. The strategy should include (i) water harvesting and watershed management, including
more water reservoirs (small and large), (ii) effective control on ground water utilization, (iii)better information system on water availability, (iv) eliminating unsustainable land use practices,(v) improved intake structures and corresponding on- farm water management, (vi) Managementtransfer of state owned schemes, (vii) extending the irrigated command area.
7. Conclusion/Recommendation:
7.1. Short -Term Programme s:
In the short term the emphasis of the strategy and opportunities will be on investment in the
rehabilitation of traditional small and medium irrigation schemes, with such programmes to playa key role in institutional restructuring and capacity building, planning for the rehabilitation offormal and large-scale schemes, establishing database and information systems, initiating theinstitutional change process. More detailed provisions:
1. Conduct water conservation and harvesting through soil, vegetation, and forest covermanagement by constructing check dams, control bunds, and other facilities to conserve
water and enhance ground water recharge in all watersheds.
2. Rehabilitate small to medium-scale irrigation schemes requiring infrastructures repair
work that extends beyond routine preventive maintenance and needs resources and that
farmers and villagers are unable to mobilize.
3. The rehabilitation programme s will be based on systematic technical assessment ofproblems in consultation with Mirab (water master).
4. Involving the communities in the maintenance and operations is key factor to increase
agricultural productivity and outputs. Therefore, rehabilitation of these systems will be
under taken within the community development framework. Pilot projects will also be
implemented to support community management of watersheds and water harvesting.
5. Plans the rehabilitation of formal and large-scale irrigation schemes. Initial assessment
work has to be done in MWP (Ministry of Water and Power), with schemes identified andpreliminary technical assessments to be undertaken. Users will have to be organized into
an appropriate institutional framework and water delivery contracts agreed upon. This
will include a water charging policies and collection mechanism.
6. Database and information system establishment should commence as soon as practical.
Rebuilding of the water resources knowledge base will be a collaboration effort of all core
ministries and agencies, coordinated by the Afghan Information Management System(AIMS).
7. A government task force including AIMS will be required to develop standards andprotocols to enable efficient sharing and use of a wide range of data for different purposes.
Coordination of this work by the government is essential to ensure that all studies
contribute the overall goal. Re-establishing the hydrological and hydro-geologicalnetwork (including stations to monitor snow pack) is a high priority, though it should beundertaken within the context of earlier network design.
8. Appropriate institutional arrangements for water resource management are an essential
prerequisite. These options should be assessed in the context of the broader review ofrequired sector agencies and their respective role.
7.2. Medium-Term Programmes:
The medium-Term interventions will involve expansion of the investment programme andimplementation of institutional and policy reform, via the following key activities:

1. Expansion of the existence traditional small and medium irrigation systems withrehabilitation programmes under the community development.
2. Implementation of an investment programme for rehabilitation of formal and large-scale
irrigation schemes. This rehabilitation should be based on feasibility studies for eachscheme and selection criteria for prioritizing individual scheme.
3. Institutional reform and capacity building.
4. Policy and legislative reform for water policy and right, water charges, community-based
watershed management and irrigation system transfer to users, and ground water andinter-country water transfer.
5. The present water law should be revised and community established rules should be taken
into consideration to response both traditional and modern irrigation systems.
6. The government should take over the responsibility to protect forests and provides a law
to avoid de- forestation of the country.
Acknowledge ments:
The author would like to express his thanks to Dr. Khabir Alim, water Engineer, IOM,
Afghanistan, for his introduc ing me to TASAE 2006. I would like also to thank Dr Iwasaki
Yoichi, President, University of Tsukuba for his invitation to travel to Japan and participate in
TASAE 2006 conference. The author also thanks Dr. Shahmahmood, acting country director,
SCA for granting me permission to attend TASAE 2006.

References:
A. Aini, 1991, Irrigation systems in Afghanistan, Article published in Mujahidin Journal in Islamabad, Pakistan.
A. Khabir Alim, Sustainability of Water Resources in Afghanistan, country paper in TASAE 2005.
ADB, 2003, Rebuilding Afghanistan's Agriculture Sector.
FAO, Afghanistan Agriculture Strategy.
Ministry of Water and Power, 2004, Watershed ATLAS of Afghanistan.